








































Professional Development


9

Professional Development
Patsy Yang, Gateway Seminary, Chair

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

• Patsy Yang, Gateway Seminary, Chair
• Kellie Barbato, Roberts Wesleyan College/Northeastern Semi-

nary
• Becky Givens, Covenant Theological Seminary
• Timothy Lincoln, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
• Andy Lofthus, Western Seminary
• Jamie Lin, Atla Staff Liaison

YEAR IN REVIEW

The Professional Development Committee (PDC) fosters the de-
velopment of librarians and related information professionals 
who serve theological and religious studies scholarship and study. 
We provide professional development opportunities to members 
throughout the year using a variety of methods and delivery mech-
anisms to facilitate the exchange of ideas and support members at 
every point in their careers, by determining member needs and 
identifying expert resources.

At our October 2021 annual virtual Fall meeting, we discussed 
programming ideas and how we could provide programming re-
lated to Atla’s organizational ends and the Board of Directors’ 2020-
21/2021-22 Mega Issues. We decided to provide monthly REMO So-
cial Hours to provide an informal atmosphere for Atla members 
throughout the academic year, since the REMO Socials at the end of 
each day of the 2021 Conference were so successful and these have 
a small, but enthusiastic attendance, so they will continue through 
next year as well. We also created an initial set of topics to cover in 
conversation groups, panel discussions and other webinars during 
the year.

We started off our PDC events with a panel discussion with 
five Atla members and staff on “What is a Theological Librarian” 
during TLM month. This had a very high attendance by both Atla 



10    ANNUAL Y E ARBOOK

members and people from other organizations and is now avail-
able in Atla’s online webinar archive. We continued the informal 
Conversation Groups series started in 2020-2021 to help our mem-
bers connect more easily with each other. We created privacy and 
a safe place by not recording these conversations. The topics in-
cluded an open discussion on OCLC’s WMS/WC Discovery platform 
and the Long-Term Effect of the Pandemic on Our Workplaces.

In February, we surveyed the Atla membership regarding pre-
ferred subject topics and venues for professional development op-
portunities. We analyzed the results in March and again learned 
that most members prefer webinars for their professional devel-
opment from Atla. You may read our full survey report including 
analysis on the Atla blog sometime this fall.

The PDC oversees the regional grant program for regional 
groups and member institutions. We did not receive any grant ap-
plications this year as institutions continued to deal with COVID 
and most groups met virtually instead of in person.

Some of our members and Jamie Lin are working to reimagine 
the mentoring program for new library directors. This is a need 
that our professional development surveys regularly receive re-
quests for. We hope to have something ready to share by the end of 
the next fiscal year, if not earlier.

Unfortunately, COVID is not over. Most of our institutions and 
members are learning to live with it at work and at home. As we 
continue to use new ways to work with students in our current 
climate, the Professional Development Committee will continue to 
focus on providing programming to meet your professional devel-
opment needs.


